Newquay's Trenance Gardens to Light up in Festive Style

The area is also set to host The Lantern Parade, the town’s brightest festive tradition, for the very first time.

With less than a week until the Be Newquay Festival begins, more details have been revealed on one of its weekend headliners, Trenance Trees and Tales: Lantern Parade and Christmas Lights Switch On. On Friday 22nd November from 5.30pm, the team at Newquay’s Trenance Cottages invite all to wrap up warm and come out to celebrate the start of the festive season in the most magical and bedazzling style.

This Christmassy event is on the fourth weekend of the festival and promises an unforgettable evening of festive cheer, rousing carol performances, stunning storytelling and dazzling light displays in the heart of the culturally significant Trenance area of Newquay.

The enchanting Lantern Parade will lead the proceedings from Trenance Carpark at 5.30pm before making its way to Trenance Cottages in a dazzling display. This is the first time that Trenance has played host to the town’s popular lantern parade tradition in partnership with Blystra Arts and it is set to be brighter than ever before with 100’s of schoolchildren and members of the community partaking to showcase their illuminated creations in a glowing trail of radiance.

The excitement doesn’t stop there. The evening will continue with the grand light switch on at 6.30pm which, alongside the Christmas tree, will light up the beautiful gardens including the foot bridge over the stream, and the façade of the heritage cottage itself.

From 6.30pm to 9pm, local performers and choir singers will deliver joyous Christmas carols and live music that will fill the gardens with merry cheer. There will

be stunning stories regaled by local Storytellers, Rob Copeland and Kate Stebbing-Allen. Keeping eventgoers warm and merry, the Garden Cafe and Trenance Cottages will be serving up cosy drinks and comforting food throughout the evening.

Chairman of Trenance Cottages Newquay, Jill Wilmott said, “It’s such a joy to see all our proactive organisations coming together in this way to mark the start of the Christmas season. Our beautiful light displays around the cottages and gardens, will brighten up the upcoming winter evenings and create a magical atmosphere in the lead up to Christmas. The evening itself will be a great way to celebrate our heritage and bring people together, plus we’re incredibly excited to host the Lantern Parade here for the first time, marking the start of the Christmas festivities in Newquay. We are grateful to Cornwall Council led project Experience Newquay for funding the lighting infrastructure and helping to make this vision a reality for Trenance Valley.”

Ahead of the lantern parade, Blystra Arts is running some drop-in craft sessions, where local people are invited to make some autumn crafts that you can take to the lantern parade. Pick from Jar Lantern & Autumn Craft workshop on Saturday 2nd November (10-3pm) on the Killarcourt or Willow Lantern Making workshop on Saturday 16th November (10.30-3.30pm) at Trenance Heritage Cottages & The Garden Café.

Trenance Trees and Tales is part of Be Newquay Festival – a new season of events, activities and workshops that celebrate Newquay’s culture and creative spirit. Throughout each weekend in November, the festival will be taking place at various venues across the town. Many of the events throughout the festival are free to attend, making it accessible to all members of the community.

There’s still time to book tickets for the festival’s first weekend line-up (1st – 3rd November), which includes Cream of Cornish Weekender’s by Groundswell events (Kana by Candlelight, LOL-A-Day Destination, Dracula The Vampyr & Micro Movies Matinee). Cream of Cornish Weekender events are offered on a flexible ticket structure to ensure everyone can join in the fun, from festival for free to the full fifteen (£15 for all four events). Book your tickets now and enjoy the best of Cornish creativity.

The BIG Newquay Market will return to the town on Saturday 2nd November, with traders peddling their wares on the Killacourt. For the festival launch weekend, the Big Newquay Market will feature a special one-off event: Seascape: A Live Art Event and Auction. Watch local artists at work as they are inspired by the wild Atlantic seascapes of the coastal town. There’s also a Beach Art Workshop on Towan Beach with Newquay Marine Group, a Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercise and Sound Bath, workshops from To The Moon & Back, a magnet making workshop with Tor Pottery, wildlife walk and Nordic spa experiences. There’s so much to choose from, check out the first weekend line-up here.

For the full festival line-up, individual events, and booking details, check out our What’s On page: www.benewquayfestival.co.uk/events or see the Instagram account at @ benewquay_festival for continual updates.

The Be Newquay Festival is commissioned by Cornwall Council’s project Experience Newquay and supported by Newquay BID and Visit Newquay. It is part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.